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India Beat WI By 67 Runs To Win Series 2-1; Kohli, Sharma, Rahul, Pollard Shine

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India Beat WI By 67 Runs To Win Series 2-1
KL Rahul image source: @klrahul11/Twitter

India win the series decider third T20I in Wankhede by beating West Indies by 67 runs.  It was a really great series. West Indies played some amazing competitive cricket and exposed some important weak points in the Indian team. But in the third T20I, India came back with full force and batting first, set up a massive target of 241 runs for West Indies to achieve. But batting second, West Indies could only make only 173/8 in 20 overs.

The match was on Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India had won the 1st T20I in Hyderabad by 6 wickets and West Indies had won the second one in Thiruvananthpuram by 8 wickets. So everyone was very excited about this series-decider.

Toss

West Indies won the toss and decided to bowl first. India do not have great records while batting first, so obviously, the West Indies seemed to have an advantage at the start of the game.

India batting

Batting first, India’s openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul gave a dream start for India. Local boy Rohit Sharma, who had played numerous matches at the Wankhede looked supremely comfortable and was knocking the ball beyond the boundary line right from the start.

KL Rahul too looked in sublime touch. Together they scored 135 runs for the 1st wicket.

Rohit Sharma was the first to get out. In the 12th over, he decided to hit a massive six towards the long-on/deep mid-wicket region, but could not time the ball correctly. And the ball went very high up in the air and Hayden Walsh Jr managed to take a difficult catch quite cleanly. Rohit was out on 71 runs from 34 balls, hitting 6 fours and 5 sixes in his important knock.

Next came Rishabh Pant, who had the license to go after every ball. But gave a catch on his very second ball on the bowling of Kieron Pollard. He was out on zero.

Now all eyes were on the new batsman Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli continued with his revengeful demeanor towards Kesrick Williams. Kohli hit Williams and other West Indian bowlers all over the ground. Fans had no time to breathe. They were jumping, screaming, and beaming with joy on every shot of Kohli and Rahul.

In the final over, KL Rahul got out while pulling a bouncer ball by Sheldon Cottrell. Bat hit the outer edge of the bat and went up behind him, giving a simple catch to wicket-keeper Nicholas Pooran. KL Rahul made 91 runs from 56 balls, hitting 9 fours and four sixes.

Kohli, however, made sure to finish the final over by hitting a six to Cottrell. Kohli finished on not-out 70 runs from just 29 balls, hitting 4 fours and 7 sixes, with an awesome batting strike rate of 241.38

West Indies batting

In reply, West Indies had a nightmare start.  They lost their three major stars from the last two matches Brandon King, Lendl Simmons, and Nicholas Pooran very early and West Indies score became 17/3 in 3.1 overs.

But it was captain Kieron Pollard and left-hander Shimron Hetmyer who played some fantastic cricket and gave some hope to the West Indies fans.

But in the 10th over, Shimron Hetmyer too got out on well made 41 runs from 24 balls, hitting 1 four and 5 sixes.

Kieron Pollard though kept fighting the losing battle. He did not have much support from the other end. Finally, in the 15th over, Pollard got out on the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He gave a catch to substitute fielder Jadeja at the deep mid-wicket boundary line. He played a captain’s knock of 68 runs from 39 balls, hitting 5 fours and 6 sixes. West Indies were 141/6 in 15 overs.

In the last five overs, West Indies did not create any magic and managed to take the score to 173/8 in 20 overs. Thus India won the match by 67 runs and won the series 2-1.

Earlier, Evin Lewis had got injured while fielding in the 1st inning, so he did not come to bat. His knee got stuck in the ground while saving a four near the boundary line. He was taken out of the ground on a stretcher.

KL Rahul was given the man of the match award, while Virat Kohli was chosen as the player of the series. Virat Kohli said it was one of his best knocks. Also, he mentioned it is a great anniversary gift to his wife and he is very happy that India won this match batting first.

So that was the full match report. It was a competitive, fiercely fought series. Everyone enjoyed the performances put forth by both the teams.

Now the two teams will gear up for the three-match ODI series, which will begin on Sunday, December 15, 2019.

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